1. Field
The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to circuit interrupters and, more particularly, to an attachment apparatus that is configured to enable a conductive element to be electrically connected with a circuit interrupter.
2. Related Art
Numerous types of circuit interrupters are usable in numerous applications. Circuit interrupters are typically employed to open at least a portion of a protected circuit during certain predefined overcurrent conditions, under-voltage conditions, and other conditions. As is generally understood, a circuit interrupter such as a circuit breaker may include a line conductor that is connected with a source of electrical power, a load conductor that is connected with a device that consumes electrical power, and a set of separable electrical contacts that are separable to open a portion of a protected circuit. While such circuit breakers have been generally effective for their intended purposes, they have not been without limitation.
One shortcoming that exists with the use of known circuit breakers and associated equipment is in the area of the terminals that are used for connecting sources of electrical power to the line conductors of circuit breakers, as well as the terminals that are used for connecting electrical loads to the load conductors of circuit breakers. The various types of wiring and connectors that can exist, as well as the variety of electrical appliances and other devices that use electricity, have caused a level of difficulty since the line terminals and load terminals of conventional circuit breakers typically have not been configured to enable an unlimited variety of conductive elements to be connected with the conductors of the circuit breaker. In certain applications, compressive lugs have been employed as line or load terminals to compressively connect a wire with a conductor of a circuit breaker and to serve as the line terminal or load terminal as the case may be. By way of example, a conventional 3/0 aluminum lug has an opening that is structured to receive both a wire and a circuit breaker's load conductor therein, and the lug further includes a threaded engagement element that compressively engages together the wire and the load conductor to retain them electrically connected. While a conventional 3/0 lug can easily be used as a load terminal to connect a 3/0 wire to a load conductor of the circuit breaker, the same lug typically is not necessarily configured to effectively connect to the load conductor a wire having, for instance, a ring terminal. It thus would be desirable to provide an improved circuit breaker and an improved attachment apparatus that can serve as a line terminal or a load terminal and that meet these and other shortcomings known in the relevant art.